Who we are: The people behind the interactive Energy Saving Account

The interactive Energy Saving Account is a service offered by the non-profit limited liability company co2online, and it is the centerpiece of the "Energy Saving Club" campaign, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Environment. The interactive Energy Saving Account was developed by SEnerCon GmbH.


co2online
has been committed to climate protection since 2003. The non-profit consulting company helps private households lower their heating energy and electricity consumption, and in this way, reduce CO2 emissions. The topics here span from the thermo technical modernization of buildings to saving electricity in your everyday life. Together with co2online,
SEnerCon GmbH
has developed various online consulting tools. With the help of these interactive EnergySaving Checks, consumers can find out if their energy consumption unnecessarily burdens the environment, and in turn, which individual steps they can take in order to save energy. SEnerCon was founded in 1992; it advises companies on issues of energy, it evaluates climate protection projects, and provides energy consultations for buildings.

Motivation: Why we want to save energy.

Don’t talk about the future, don't discuss about the possibilities - just act. We are convinced that climate and environmental protection starts at home. Here and now. Because everybody can save energy.

The federal government has established various climate protection goals, one of which, is a 40% reduction of CO2 emissions by the year 2020 in comparison to emissions from 1990. Our interactive iESA account serves to show that this goal is not just a utopian dream. Already, more than 65,000 consumers use the interactive iESA account, and each year they consume about three percent less energy compared to the year before. This amount is twice as much than the average citizen achieves. Those savings are clearly over and above what would be necessary in order to reach the government's goals. And, a positive side effect: Saving energy also always means saving money. Climate protection and profitability are not mutually exclusive.

Story: We met in a garden.

Sometimes good ideas just fall from the sky. A classic example: Newton was hit on the head by a falling apple. The idea for the interactive iESA account happened quite the same; the idea fell upon us in the early summer of 2006, in a garden in Mainz-Lerchenberg.

Sitting in the garden were ZDF journalist, Günter Alt, the graduate engineer, Stefan Neugebauer, and Tanja Loitz, the managing director of the non-profit organization, co2online. These three were preparing for a WISO TV show on the electricity saving potential of heating pumps. Incidentally, they started talking about how for the past two years, Stefan Neugebauer had been desperately trying to find a way to stay on top of his energy balance. Neugebauer had been entering all of his meter readings into an Excel chart. This method, however, proved to be quite troublesome, as it was a bit outdated, but moreover, it was a rather complicated method that could never have been recommended for people who aren't engineers! Together, the energy specialists reflected upon how this issue could be solved in an easier way. Their idea: An Internet application that users can use to document their energy consumption, as well as control costs. The interactive iESA account.

Then everything happened very quickly: In July 2007, the interactive iESA account was launched, and only two years later, the Federal Ministry of Environment began promoting the interactive iESA account within the framework of the "Energy Saving Club" campaign.